Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Chicago, much of Illinois under a Flood Watch; 2-4" of rain likely by Friday

Chicago, much of Illinois under a Flood Watch; 2-4" of rain likely by Friday, A strong surface low pressure (storm) system associated with a deepening upper level trough over the Plains is expected to lift northeast towards the Great Lakes region. A warm and very moist air mass will be transported northward along and even ahead with this storm system.

Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms is anticipated over the region Wednesday morning to early Friday.

In addition, an extended period of heavy rainfall from thunderstorms will likely produce widespread rainfall totals of 2-4" with the possibility of a few localized areas seeing rainfall in excess of 4 inches.

PREVIOUS RAINFALL OVER THE
PAST WEEK OR TWO HAS ALREADY MOISTENED SOILS AND CAUSED
SIGNIFICANT RISES IN RIVER LEVELS ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS
AND NORTHWEST INDIANA...ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE
NEXT FEW DAYS WILL LIKELY RESULT IN AREAS OF FLOODING, said the NWS.

As a result, a Flood Watch has been issued for the entire Chicago area from 1pm CDT Wednesday to Friday morning.

Area stream and rivers currently at or near flood stage from previous rains will likely rise to moderate or major flood stage from this event.

Much of Illinois including all of the central and northern parts of the state is under a Flood Watch. Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin are also mostly under a Flood Watch through the end of this week.

In addition to the threat for flooding is the threat for severe weather. Wednesday's severe weather threat stretches from Illinois south to Texas and includes the entire Chicago land area. Thursday's severe weather threat stretches from Michigan to Louisiana and also includes the entire Chicago region. Severe weather threats Wednesday and Thursday includes damaging winds, hail, and isolated tornadoes.

April and May, historically are peak months for severe weather in the United States.

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